Dine Out: Fall River restaurant is stylish; food slightly uneven

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been out to eat in Fall River. It's a city I tend to drive through, not stop off in.

Charis Anderson

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been out to eat in Fall River. It's a city I tend to drive through, not stop off in.

But there are a growing number of restaurants in the city that have piqued my interest, so last week, I decided to try one of them.

Red Cedar is one of a number of new businesses housed in the redeveloped Quaker Fabric mill, now known as Commonwealth Landing.

Inside the medium-sized restaurant, which opened earlier this fall, is all exposed brick walls, soaring ceilings, and enormous — and gorgeous — windows.

When Dan and I got there shortly after 7 p.m., the restaurant was packed, with many people out celebrating the impending holidays, but we were quickly shown to a table on the far side of a small wall dividing the main dining area from the bar.

A waitress appeared just as quickly to take our drink order — a glass of Norton Malbec ($6.50) for me, and a 23-ounce Bud Light ($4.75) for Dan — and to leave us with menus.

For starters, the wood-braised calamari ($12) jumped out at both Dan and me right away, so that was an easy appetizer pick. Had I spent even a minute longer with the menu I probably would have ordered the stuffed jalapenos ($8.50), but instead went with the roasted mushrooms ($9).

The mushrooms, six of them, came out first: small button mushrooms crowned with a scoop of stuffing, served in a round casserole dish.

The mushrooms had been roasted until they were tender and fully of woodsy flavor. According to the menu, the stuffing had both scallops and shrimp in it, but neither was easily discernible. However, the stuffing was still moist and well seasoned, a pleasant addition to the mushrooms.

There was a slight delay before we received our second appetizer — our waitress explained that the kitchen was a little backed up — but the spacing actually allowed us to savor each dish a bit more.

The calamari wasn't prepared in the typical breaded-and-fried fashion, but instead had been braised in a tomato-fennel sauce, leaving the rings very tender and full of flavor.

The sauce itself was very bright and fresh, and tasted even better when allowed to soak into one of the four toast points that came with the dish.

For our entrees, Dan decided on the chicken parm ($14.50), a favorite of his, while I decided to splurge on the Cedar casserole ($24), a mix of lobster, crab, scallops and shrimp roasted in a butter-based sauce.

In Dan's meal, the chicken breast had been pounded very thin, resulting in a lot of breading with every bite of chicken. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but also not to my taste. (The chicken, what you could taste of it, was very tender.)

The tomato sauce was good, but not a stand-out, so all in all, the chicken parm was a little ho-hum.

My entree, on the other hand, was by far the best thing we ordered. The seafood mix came served not in a casserole dish, but on a plate along with rice and a roasted vegetable mix.

Each type of seafood — lobster, crab, scallops, shrimp — was generously represented and cooked perfectly to a tender sweetness. The light butter sauce — described on the restaurant's menu as a scampi sauce — really allowed the flavors of the seafood to shine in a way a heavier cream sauce would not have.

And the crumb topping, far from an overpowering layer, was more of a sprinkle here and there, just enough to add some texture.

The rice was nicely flavored, and the green bean and carrot mix roasted to the point of tender crispness, just the way I like it.

Both of our entrees also came with small house salads, which were good versions of the standard restaurant salad.

In the spirit of moderate indulgence, we decided to split a dessert. Sadly, they were out of the death-by-chocolate cake ($7.50), which would have been a clear winner, so we went with the "Italiano" ($7) instead, a vanilla cake with layers of cannoli cream. I also ordered a glass of Sambuca ($5.50), because I love it and almost never have it.

The cake, sadly, was a bit of a disappointment. It was dry and dense, and the cannoli cream was very cold, and thus much harder than I would have liked. It was also served atop a strange mix of raspberry and caramel sauces, which didn't seem to go together all that well.

The glass of Sambuca was delicious, although with the incredibly generous pour they gave me, I couldn't come close to finishing it.

Not including tip or drinks, our bill came to $73.

Red Cedar makes great use of the former mill space, and — at least judging from the night we were there — is already attracting a good-sized crowd.

The menu had a number of delicious-sounding entrees, including the Red Cedar cheddar meatloaf ($14.50) and the wood-roasted scrod ($17), as well as a selection of pizzas ($10-$18) cooked in the wood-fired oven.

Vegetarians have a number of options at the restaurant, including a selection of salads and the aforementioned pizzas.

Although the restaurant has a casual-yet-hip feel, its prices start to push it into the special-occasion-only realm.

I really loved my entree, and the calamari appetizer was another high point in our meal, so I will be interested to see how this restaurant continues to evolve.

Dine Out's reviewer visits restaurants unannounced and at his or her discretion. The Standard-Times pays for the meals reviewed. The reviews merely reflect one diner's experience. Ratings range from 1 to 5 stars.

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